Interplay of exchange and spin-conserving scattering processes in a ferromagnetic two-sublattice system

Abstract

In magnetic alloys or hybrid systems formed by molecular magnets coupled to a magnetic substrate, the exchange interaction leads to fast spin dynamics after excitation. We investigate the electronic charge and spin dynamics due to the exchange interaction in a two-sublattice system with antiferromagnetic coupling. We employ a simplified model for a ferrimagnetic alloy as a coupled system of itinerant and localized electron states together with an exchange coupling between the two. For the itinerant system we include electron-electron Coulomb scattering and electron-phonon scattering. We study numerically the heat-induced ultrafast magnetization dynamics due to the interplay of exchange scattering and spin-independent scattering processes and discuss different scenarios for the demagnetization and relaxation dynamics of the sublattices. Our results highlight the impact of spin-conserving electron-electron scattering processes on the exchange-driven spin dynamics on ultrashort timescales.